No. 14 Mississippi State University (1-0) men’s tennis got their season off to a hot start with a win against University of Alabama at Birmingham (0-1) after sweeping the Blazers.
MSU found themselves down early in the double matches but quickly tied it with court two’s pairing of Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic winning their match seven to five. MSU clinched a point from doubles when court one finished seven to five in MSU’s favor and they carried that energy through the rest of the day.
Head coach Matt Roberts said he felt the matches were a good way to start off the season.
“The doubles were very good for us to get a little more comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Roberts said. “UAB pushed us in doubles, we had to make a comeback on court one. Two we had a lead and they came back and made it tough for us. Then on three we fought well, and had a lot of energy we just need to be sharper.”
One of the players from the court three pairing was sophomore Giovanni Ordani from Rovereto, Italy, who played for the first time with his partner Florian Broska.
“Me and Florian, we started playing in the fall, and this was the first match we played together during the season,” Ordani said. “So I think it was hard because we were both nervous and excited to play. The other guys played well and we just couldn’t find our game.”
When it came to singles’ matches, UAB fought tooth and nail for every game. The scrappy team kept the sets close, but were unable to win after MSU clinched the victory, winning four of the seven possible points. Ordani played an intense match and he felt his focus and confidence carried him through.
“I played a lot of matches during the fall and back home over the break in Italy. I also have all my camps in my head,” Ordani said. “I just try to go their, focus, bring some energy, and do my things. If I do well then everything is going to be fine.”
With MSU shutting out UAB seven to nothing, Roberts said he felt that if the team can make some adjustments, they will be ready to play USF next week at 1 p.m. Jan. 19 at home, and will play Miami at 3 p.m. Jan. 21.
“We went through something today, we built that trust with each other just a little bit more which you can’t get from practice,” Roberts said. “South Florida and Miami are two really good teams, and both coaches I respect a lot. We are just going to move forward, make some adjustments from today, have a great week of practice and we will be ready to battle again on Friday.”
